Qiu, his Qiu

Kohaku refused to do it anymore, so Xu Zhiqiu had no choice but to take up her old duties again. It happened to be time for Onigumo's weekly dressing change.

On that snowy day, Xu Zhiqiu wore the Baboon Skin and carried his food and medicine over. By the time she arrived, her cotton shoes were full of snow.

Hearing her approach, Onigumo opened his eyes and looked at her, unmistakable delight in his gaze. "Qiu, you're finally here. I thought you didn't want to see me anymore, so you sent that little kid instead. Are you feeling better?"

Xu Zhiqiu didn't answer him. She entered the cave and lit the oil lamp, then gathered some firewood piled to one side and set it on an open patch of ground. She added dry grass and lit it, and the dry wood immediately caught fire.

A trace of warmth spread through the cold, gloomy cave.

Xu Zhiqiu lifted the overly long Baboon Skin, bent down, and took off a shoe, tipping out the snow packed inside.

Onigumo caught sight of her foot. It was still every bit as lovely. Wisely, he said nothing and simply admired it in earnest.

His excessive silence struck Xu Zhiqiu as strange. She put her shoe back on and turned to look at him, only to find his gaze fixed on her legs.

When Xu Zhiqiu caught him, he turned his face away and stopped looking at her.

Onigumo's ready compliance left Xu Zhiqiu with nothing to say. Expressionless, she continued emptying the snow from her other shoe. Once she had poured it out and put the shoe back on, she reached out to feel the temperature inside the cave. Finding it acceptable, she took off the Baboon Skin and set it aside, then picked up the foot-washing basin she kept there and went outside.

"Qiu, where are you going? I haven't eaten yet," Onigumo called after her when he saw her leaving.

Xu Zhiqiu glanced back at him. "Don't you want your dressings changed?"

"Oh." Onigumo shut his mouth.

While waiting for Xu Zhiqiu, Onigumo looked at the Baboon Skin hanging to one side.

In the depths of winter, even the river had frozen solid. Xu Zhiqiu cut through the ice with the Jade Blade, and several plump fish immediately leaped out. Seeing those live fish, Xu Zhiqiu, who was thoroughly sick of cured and smoked meat, was delighted. She could have fresh, tender fish for the next couple of days.

She strung the fish together with a reed, collected the water, and headed back to the cave.

When Xu Zhiqiu came in, Onigumo turned his gaze back to her. "Qiu, are you feeling better?"

The water was a little cold.

Xu Zhiqiu wet a towel, wrung it out, and draped it over the edge of the bucket. Taking ointment and bandages from the basket, she walked over to him and unwound his dressings.

Onigumo had been lying there for over two months. Although his wounds had healed, his legs had been broken when he was thrown down, leaving him bedridden. Even getting up was a challenge.

"If I weren't better, could I come here to wait on you?" Xu Zhiqiu answered.

"Oh. So you're better, then. Hiss-be gentler. That hurts a little."

Xu Zhiqiu's face remained cold. "You might as well hurt to death."

Then Onigumo started chuckling again.

Alas, when Onigumo couldn't win an argument with her, he just chuckled. He really was pitiful.

Changing his dressings was rather difficult, and sometimes things happened that simply couldn't be avoided.

By the time she finished, Xu Zhiqiu's back and waist ached all over.

After pounding her lower back for a while, she sat on a clean patch of ground, leaning against the soft Baboon Skin behind her. She glanced at Onigumo. "You really are lucky. You fell from such a high cliff and still didn't die. They say bad people live long lives, and there's nothing wrong with that saying."

"Qiu, are you praising me?"

"Hmph." Xu Zhiqiu held her hands near the fire to warm them, unwilling to entertain him.

"Qiu, aren't you a priestess? How can you get sick?" Onigumo murmured.

Xu Zhiqiu rolled her eyes at him. "Couldn't you tell back then whether I was a priestess?" If she were a priestess, why would she have had to suffer such humiliation in the first place?

A gleam flashed through Onigumo's eyes as he recalled their first meeting, when Xu Zhiqiu had still been wearing that exceedingly "revealing" dress. "True."

Xu Zhiqiu sat there until the fire was nearly burned out. Only then did she get up to feed him porridge.

Onigumo opened his mouth with practiced ease, watching Xu Zhiqiu as he ate. Who knew how many times he had indulged in lewd fantasies about her?

Xu Zhiqiu pretended not to notice his lecherous gaze. After being watched by him for so long, she had grown used to it.

Once she finished feeding him, she put on the Baboon Skin, picked up the basket, and left.

That night.

Xu Zhiqiu curled up inside her warm bedding, and the jade on her wrist glimmered for a while.

Xu Zhiqiu had a dream. She dreamed that she had returned to the modern world, only to discover that five years had passed. Her parents had been unable to bear the blow of her death and had aged terribly.

The white-haired had buried the black-haired. Looking at her mother and father, Xu Zhiqiu tried to embrace them, but every time, she passed straight through them.

Hadn't they noticed? If I'd died, how could there be not even a scrap of bone or ash left?

The scene changed, and she found herself in her own country's ancient past-or rather, an ancient setting with an anime-like feel, like Inuyasha. She had no idea why she had appeared there. The people walking along the street seemed unable to see her, each going about their own way.

Xu Zhiqiu looked at the bustling street, lined with all sorts of snacks. There was no way she wouldn't crave them. Before she could go into a restaurant to see what delicacies people ate in ancient times, her wrist suddenly grew hot.

When she came to her senses and opened her eyes, bright light streamed in.

Mm, it was already morning.

Half the quilt covering her had been kicked aside, and there appeared to be a trace of drool at the corner of her mouth.

When would those wonderful days finally come?

The bitter winter soon passed, and spring arrived. Ice and snow melted, all things returned to life, and the demons began coming back in droves.

Kikyo and Inuyasha fought side by side, and their relationship grew increasingly close.

With so many demon attacks, Xu Zhiqiu was exhausted every day. Bringing Onigumo his meals on top of that was out of the question, so she handed the task over to Kohaku.

Although Onigumo had already spoken to Xu Zhiqiu about the Shikon Jewel, not being able to see her left him deeply unhappy. He could only try to coax information about the Shikon Jewel out of Kikyo's younger sister, but Kohaku left him with a face full of dust. Getting nowhere with the Shikon Jewel, he could only ask about Xu Zhiqiu.

Kohaku looked over the man, injured and crippled all over, and instantly understood his intentions. "You like Sister Qiu?"

"So what if I do?" Onigumo's eyes darted around even faster.

Qiu, his Qiu.

With undisguised disdain, Kohaku said bluntly, "Do you think you're worthy of Sister Qiu in your current state? Sister Qiu is so beautiful, and there are plenty of men who like her. Don't be a toad dreaming of eating swan meat."